Page 34 - Effable Encounters

Proxy Predators

could be made for ridding the earth of all such creatures. That,
however, is a reductio ad absurdum: nature’s balance is upset by
humans, not by lesser-evolved creatures who manage each other’s
population size by methods we should prefer not to choose. If we
had simply shunned the cat—that is, if our ancestors had never
domesticated the beast, either out of fear or in the highly unlikely
event they were sufficiently enlightened to realize they would then
need to absolve themselves from their complicity with its fangs and
claws—the dilemma would not exist today. But that is water over the
dam, and does not remove the issue for us and our contemporaries.”
The master merely grunted, perhaps from exertion, as they
ascended a slight grade. The disciple paused, recognizing the sound
as at best an expression of attentive noncommitment.
“Because, on the other hand, the problem of stray cats presents the
kindhearted with a different moral imperative: take in the miserable
beggar, remove it from the harsh life of mean streets and back alleys,
prevent its further reproduction, and thereby reduce the total
quantity of feline suffering in the world. But preserving and
promoting the cat’s happiness does not automatically let its owner off
the meat-hook, so to speak. Every purchase of cat food is a demerit.”
“So?”
“So the problem points out the type of situation moral beings can
wind up in: damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Refuse to
give the cat its proper diet, and cause it suffering; act as a proxy
predator, open the can, and share the guilt for killing some distant
farm animal. I suppose the ultimate justification could be found in
sheer numbers: the instantaneous—oddly referred to as humane—
slaughter of one cow represents a vastly smaller sum of suffering or
pain than the pursuit and execution of a thousand field mice, birds,
and lizards to produce the same total calories. That would preserve
the principle of equivalence, as well: one animal’s death is not of
greater importance than another’s. But I would have to weigh that
against the possibility that if all humans rejected all cats, then the
latter’s population might in fact decrease via competition for the
finite supply of food available to them in cities. In that case, perhaps,
if the number of cats dropped a thousandfold, the cows thereby
saved would ultimately outnumber the tiny prey consumed.”
“Your conclusion, if any, is not evident,” gently chided the master.

33